Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti has revealed how the kidnappers of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Abia State University Uturu, Professor Godwin Emezue, were arrested while attempting to escape to from Nigeria.
Gov. Alex Otti who disclosed this said the mastermind was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos on his way to Turkey.
Otti who made the revelation during a media parley in Umuahia said that another member of the gang was later picked up in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The Governor said the duo had since been returned to Abia State for prosecution.
Recall that Professor Emezue was kidnapped at a petrol station Umuahia where he had gone to buy fuel with his wife in January.
He was released after spending nearly one month in the den of his captors who allegedly freed him after collecting ransom.
According to Otti, the arrest was made possible by the efforts of the Operation Crush, a joint security team set up by his administration which is yielding the desired results in rooting out criminals.
The Governor who was responding to an inquiry on how he was spending his security vote, further explained that he had been utilizing security votes of his office to secure the state in line with his campaign promises.
Otti said that the cost of maintaining lives and safety of Abia residents have been financially high and assured of his sustained efforts to that effect.
Responding to a question on whether he would accept members of the opposition parties in the state to LP if they decamp, Governor Alex Otti said that the doors of the Labour Party would not be closed against the members of the opposition party who wish to cross the carpet.
Governor Otti noted that “a political party is like a church organisation where one cannot stop somebody who has come to worship from entering.”
He, however, explained that “the good governance being enjoyed by the people of the state cannot be changed or negatively affected by the entrance of people from the opposition political parties.”
